Scientists debunk fears of a Yellowstone eruption over viral video

A bison herd stampeding through Yellowstone National Park is not proof of an upcoming volcanic eruption, geologists and park officials have said, despite a recent viral video that implies the animals' instincts tipped them off to an upcoming disaster.

The video was posted online on March 20 and has since attracted
millions of views. It shows dozens of bisons running along a road
in the park, a popular attraction for tourists and outdoorsmen
alike. Much of Yellowstone does sit on the surface of a long
dormant volcanic caldera, or super volcano, which last erupted
nearly 700,000 years ago.

Images of the running bison were quickly picked up by various
media outlets, prompting comments from readers worried about
issues ranging from biblical doom to the effects of global
warming. Yellowstone officials admitted they have been
overwhelmed by hundreds of calls and emails that have come in
since the video, which featured a purported survivalist
discussing an “imminent eruption,” went viral.

“It was a spring-like day and they were frisky,” park
spokeswoman Amy Bartlett told Reuters of the rushing bison. “Contrary
to online reports, it's a natural occurrence and not the end of
the world.”

The truth is much easier to explain than a supervolcano.
Yellowstone National Park public affairs chief Al Nash told
BuzzFeed that the bison migrate from the park during the colder
months to find food at lower elevation. Then, after the winter
snow begins to melt, they return.

“We have seen no signs to suggest the Yellowstone volcano is
about to erupt,” he said. The video of the bison actually
shows the animals galloping deeper into the park, not away from
it, officials said.

Claims of an imminent eruption became more credible to some
earlier this week when a 4.8 magnitude earthquake shook the
northwest section of the park. No injuries were reported, and the
damage that was reported was not enough to alter any substantial
portion of the park – although the quake was the strongest to hit
the park since 1980.

The earthquake did occur, however, near “an area or ground uplift
tied to the upward movement of molten rock in the super-volcano,
whose mouth, or caldera, is 50 miles long and 30 miles wide,”
according to Reuters. Peter Cervelli, associate director for
science and technology at the US Geological Survey's Volcano
Science Center in California, told journalist Laura Zuckerman
that uplift is rising by about 15 centimeters each year, although
that does not make volcanic activity any more likely.

“The chance of that happening in our lifetimes is exceedingly
insignificant,” he said.

Conclusive research on whether animals are able to predict
catastrophic events is lacking, although a number of behavior
analysts have publicly asserted that certain creatures exhibit
odd behavior before major events take place.

Florida scientists monitoring 14 blacktip sharks via electronic
monitor reported that the sharks dove into deeper waters 12 hours
before Hurricane Charley struck in 2004. They observed the sharks
for four years before this event and determined that their
relocation – which lasted for two weeks after Charley had
dissipated – was an anomaly.

Similar instances – including elephants trumpeting, stomping, and
retreating to higher ground 12 hours before the 2005 tsunami
ravaged the Indian coastline – have been reported throughout the
world.